Jurgen Klinsmann, American Hero

United States' head coach Jurgen Klinsmann attends a press conference before a training session in Recife, Brazil, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. The U.S. will play Germany in group G of the 2014 soccer World Cup on June 26. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The Associated Press

United States' head coach Jurgen Klinsmann attends a press conference before a training session in Recife, Brazil, Wednesday, June 25, 2014. The U.S. will play Germany in group G of the 2014 soccer World Cup on June 26. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

What do you call a German who disses the greatest soccer player to ever come out of the United States, says that the U.S. has no chance to win the World Cup, and blasts the way this nation rewards our athletes?

Easy. An American hero.

Jurgen Klinsmann has been the United States men's soccer coach for three years and an international star for 25, but it wasn't until last month that he introduced himself to this nation's general public.

He didn't do it with a handshake, either. He did it with more of a hand to the face -- an open-palmed slap across our soccer history's mug.

Wait...seriously? Landon Donovan won't be on the World Cup roster?

It was like taking the leather jacket off the Fonz -- and he was just getting started.

Less than three weeks later, just as World Cup play was set to begin, Klinsmann told the New York Times that the United States' chances of winning the tournament were simply "not realistic," thereby turning the American Dream into the American Dream On.

It was the antithesis of optimism -- a loogie hocked between the eyes of our belief system.

Brutal, right?

Actually, more like brilliant.

Klinsmann's statement took the pressure off his players without sacrificing a morsel of nationwide enthusiasm. Right now, the U.S. is as soccer-rabid as it has ever been, with group-play matches drawing higher ratings than the World Series and viewing areas overflowing with fans.

And if there was ever a man whose Pacific-to-Atlantic image has morphed from gloomy to golden, it's Klinsmann. Maybe he still doesn't believe, but because of his work, the rest of the country does.

Before we look at what Klinsmann has done as the USMNT's head coach, let's first look at who he's catered to: nobody.

Whether it was benching Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore at certain points during qualifying, or criticizing Clint Dempsey for leaving the English Premier League to return to the MLS, Klinsmann has feared no repercussion. While he studied Phil Jackson and Pete Carroll so as to better understand the nuances of American coaching, perhaps he found equal influence in Bill Belichick, who puts no man above the system.

If there was a player on American soil whose persona could have superseded the team, it was Donovan. Klinsmann wanted this to be the United States Men's National team -- not Landon Donovan and the Americans -- so leaving the most celebrated soccer player in U.S. history off the roster may have been his smartest move to date.

Plus, as competitive as Klinsmann is, deep down he must feel that 2014 is the Spring Training for the 2018 World Cup. He's building something here. And as he keeps building, they will come.

Who's they, you ask?

Well, there's German players with dual citizenship for one. Perhaps you'd like to see a true-blue American squad, but with John Brooks, Timmy Chandler, Julian Green, Fabian Johnson and Jermaine Jones pervading the roster, it's clear that won't be the case. Fact is, Klinsmann -- one of the greatest strikers in German history -- has sway when it comes to luring Deutschland-born players -- and that will go kilometers toward pushing the U.S. into becoming true World Cup contenders.